Letters from Iwo Jima begins in a state of solemn reflection. An examination of the brutality once exchanged at this iconic island. The remains of the battle are flipped through sombrely and in no time we are thrust back to their origins -- 1945, right in the thick of the coal-black soil.

This particular battle has been explored before, but what makes Letters from Iwo Jima distinctive is its perspective and the films affiliation with it. The Japanese soldiers aren't relative, but absolute. They aren't hidden in the shadows like most war epics, but brought to light and sympathetically investigated in depth. From the coarse beaches of 1945 to the remains of present day, Letters from Iwo Jima remembers this…

In the wake of American Sniper, I thought it would be prudent to reaffirm that Eastwood can do neutrality. I passionately consider Letters from Iwo Jima to be one of the best war films of all time; with the refreshing viewpoint and heart-rending sensitivity being the tip of the iceberg. It is intrinsically even-handed, movingly reasserting the notion that the enemies are not the foot-soldiers but the puppets masters who, out of nobility or vanity, expect their beliefs to be willfully encompassed by innocents.

All this thought-provoking pathos and profundity is heavily diluted in American Sniper. It's there, but it is astronomically inferior to Eastwood's magnum opus of great spirit and egalitarianism. Letters From Iwo Jima is more important now then ever, it seems.

The companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima is the second & final chapter of Clint Eastwood's Iwo Jima saga that's filmed almost entirely in Japanese, defies the stereotypical portrait of the Japanese in Hollywood features, and presents welcome improvements in various filmmaking aspects to succeed as the better film of the two.

Set at Iwo Jima in 1944, the story of Letters from Iwo Jima covers the Battle of Iwo Jima between the United States & Imperial Japan during the Second World War. While the first part of the saga presented the war from an American perspective, this chapter depicts the same battle from the Japanese viewpoint and follows the Japanese soldiers who were involved in it.…

Letters from Iwo Jima predominantly finds its interest in the very interesting perspective, but an uneven pacing and some characterizations make it just fall short of being truly great.

What I love about Eastwood as a director is the methodology in his sober approach to the way he composes scenes. They always have a certain calm about them that, as a starting point, often lead to intense audience involvement. In a war film such as this, that calm works to a great effect in the more contemplative moments, but most effective in the more tense combat scenes. This film shows Eastwood's strengths as director, but definitely his weaknesses as well.

"If our children can live safely for one more day it would be worth the one more day that we defend this island"

Theirs an old saying that goes "History is written by the victor" and throughout cinema mostly every tale regarding WW2 has been told from the perspective of the allies. Yet in the case of Eastwood's film he takes the side of the feared and ultimately defeated Japanese army and the result is a poignant and brutal look at both the chaos and destruction of war. The film is devastating throughout, seeing the humanised viewpoint of soldiers just defending their country as are the allies, was and is an interesting and most needed document on a war that was just purely devastating on both fronts.

Well, it's a bit better than FLAGS, thanks fo stronger characters and an all around tighter script, but in the end it's still just another boring, interchangable war movie. ----- #023 in 2018 TV recording

Depressing ass war movie done right, what little hope glimmers through is usually smacked down pretty hard. Handles some of Japan's wartime insanity with a humanizing hand that doesn't make many people come out looking like cartoon villains.

That was better than I expected it to be. It looks great. It has this washed out quality to it that makes it feel like it's taking place on the moon or somewhere else unearthly, as guys are forced to endure a horrible experience.

The best part is the first third, before the battle takes place. It was interesting getting to know the characters. Seen plenty of war movies, but it's a change to see a WWII movie where the non-action parts are so pronounced. Even when the battle begins, most of the time takes place in caves, where people try to survive.

It's fairly standard for a war movie to have a character die early on. But how often…